Partners Making News

Several of EPA's Green Power Partners issued news releases about their rankings. The efforts resulted in many of them receiving positive coverage from local, national, and trade industry media outlets, including Reuters, Forbes, MSNBC, CNN, Motley Fool, GreenBiz, San Diego Tribune, San Jose Mercury News and Dallas Morning News. For the latest Partner news, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/newsroom/inthenews.htm

National Top 25 List Coverage

On January 30, 2007, CNN's American Morning show featured EPA's Top 25 list.

College & University Coverage

On February 24, 2007, Matt Clouse, program director for EPA's Green Power Partnership was interviewed about "green" campuses and some of the strategies that higher education institutions are using to reduce climate risk. To listen to the interview, please visit: http://www.okhighered.org/college-connection/archives/CC-2-24-07.wma
Fast forward to the 12:30 mark in the recording to hear the Green Power segment.

The deadline is fast approaching for colleges and universities to submit new or updated purchase information in order to participate in EPA's College & University Green Power Challenge. All information must be received by Monday, April 2, 2007.

Starting in spring 2006, EPA began tracking the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power purchases in the nation through the challenge. The College & University Green Power Challenge is open to all U.S. colleges, universities, and conferences. To be eligible, a conference must include at least one Green Power Partner and have an aggregate green power purchase of at least 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours for the conference.

EPA will recognize Challenge winners during a banquet at the Second Annual Campus Sustainability Conference on April 18, 2007 in College Park, Maryland. EPA will recognize the largest single purchaser within each eligible conference as 2006-07 EPA Green Power Challenge conference champions. In addition, EPA will also recognize the members of the single conference with the greatest aggregate kilowatt-hour total as the overall champion.

More than 63 higher education institutions and 18 conferences are competing head to head, with the following three conferences currently in contention for the overall championship:

The CEC is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico, and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The CEC was established to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Agreement complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). For additional information, visit http://www.cec.org.

EPA Updates Top Partner Lists; First Time Private Sector Leads National Top 25

In January, EPA updated its Top Partner lists. Each list highlights EPA's Green Power Partners that have completed the largest annual voluntary green power purchases.

National Top 25 List
For the first time, a corporation leads EPA's national Top 25 list of green power purchasers. Wells Fargo & Company claimed the top spot by purchasing 550 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Following Wells Fargo & Company is Whole Foods Market at No. 2 and then the U.S. Air Force at No. 3. EPA ranks No. 4, and Johnson & Johnson rounds out the top five.
Newcomers to the list include:

Cisco Systems Inc. at No. 11

New York University at No. 13

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at No. 17

Kohl's Department Stores at No. 22

EPA's Top 25 Green Power Partners are buying more than 4.4 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually. This is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 410,000 average American homes each year.

Top 10 Retail Partners List
Leading the retail list is Whole Foods Market, followed in second place by Starbucks. Rounding out the top five purchasers of green power are Staples, Safeway, and newcomer, Kohl's Department Stores. Other newcomers to the list include Office Depot (No. 6) and REI (No.8).

Top 10 College and University Partners List
Moving into the No. 1 space on the list is newcomer New York University, purchasing more than 116 million kilowatt-hours. Second on the list is University of Pennsylvania. Rounding out the top five college and university green power purchasers are Pennsylvania State University, California State University System, and Duke University.

Top 10 Federal Government List
The U.S. Air Force remains the No. 1 green power purchaser among all Federal Agencies. The U.S. Department of Veterans joins the Partnership ranking No. 4 nationally.

Top 10 Local Government List
The City of San Diego, Calif., took the top spot on the list, pushing the City of Austin, Texas, down one spot to No. 2. The City of Bellingham, Wash., joins the Partnership at No. 7. The City of Santa Monica, Calif., takes the No. 8 spot.

Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge
There are currently 42 Fortune 500 companies participating in EPA's Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge. These Partners are collectively purchasing more than 2.7 billion kilowatt-hours of green power. Citigroup (No. 16) and GE Energy/Inspection & Repair Services (No.42) are new to the Fortune 500 list.
EPA is challenging Fortune 500 companies to roughly double their current level of green power purchasing. The goal is to exceed 5 billion kilowatt-hours of green power purchasing among participating companies by the end of 2007.

Next Update Deadline: April 9, 2007

The next deadline to submit updated Partner purchase information is April 9, 2007. This deadline is in effect for EPA's Top Partner lists and the Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge. College & University Partners must submit updated purchase information by April 2, 2007, in order to be included in the final recognition event for EPA's College & University Green Power Challenge. Partners with updated green power purchase information should contact Anthony Amato (anthony.amato@erg.com, 617-357-4630).